


At last...

by Southerner_holby



Category: Dominic Copeland/Lofty
Genre: M/M, holby city - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-11-19 18:06:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11318787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Southerner_holby/pseuds/Southerner_holby
Summary: After a while, Dom and Lofty finally open up about their feelings for each other, at last!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic so any feedback is welcome.

Lofty had just finished dealing with a patient when he walked over to the nurse’s station where Essie and Dom were talking.

“Dom, can I have a word?”

Dom followed Lofty to the locker room so they could have some privacy. Dom wondered why Lofty had shut the door. This made him nervous. Then Lofty began to talk…

“Look, Dom, I am going to be completely honest with you because I don’t know when I will have the courage to say this again. I really like you and I have liked you since the moment I arrived on this ward. I know we have had our differences and when you said we weren’t even friends that hurt so much.” Lofty never broke eye contact with Dom.

Dom started to walk quickly towards the door.

“I’m sorry I can’t do this.” Lofty was stood staring at the door that Dom had just walked through and tears began to fall down his cheeks.  
Essie saw Dom run off the ward so she began to follow him all the way to the peace garden.

“Dom, stop!”

“Leave me alone”

Essie continued to chase after Dom. After they reached the peace garden, they sat in silence on the bench for a few moments until Dom finally spoke.

“Lofty told me he likes me”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Essie questioned Dom.

“I’m broken and I don’t deserve to be happy. Everyone knows how well my last relationship turned out and I can’t cope with that happening again” Dom started to cry and Essie wrapped her arms around him.

“Oh Dom, do you really think that Lofty would ever hurt you?”

“I don’t know what to think”

With that, he stood up and made his way back inside the hospital leaving Essie sitting on the bench.

Back on the ward, Dom began to consider what Essie had said when he saw Lofty drop a patient’s file all over the floor after crashing into a nurse by accident. Could Lofty ever really hurt him? He just stood there smiling, watching Lofty fumble around on the floor trying to pick up the file, and knew that Essie was right.

 

At the end of the shift, Dom found Lofty sitting on the bench in the locker room just staring at the floor.

“Lofty?” he said, trying to get his attention. Once Lofty had turned around, Dom shut the door, again, to give them some privacy.

“Dom, I’m so sorry I said that, I know you’ve just come out of a bad relationship and I completely understand if you don’t want to be friends but…” Dom interrupted him.

“Lofty can you just let me speak!” he said, smiling fondly at the other man sitting next to him.

“Sorry” Lofty said, looking apologetic.

Dom began to speak. “I’m sorry I walked out like that. The truth is I was scared, and I still am, that it would turn out like my relationship did with Isaac. I know you would never hurt me but I still just need some time to get over what happened. I would definitely like to see where this can go but maybe if we can take it slowly… then I guess I like you too.”

Both men had smiles spread across their faces as Lofty took Dom’s hand in his own. 

“Dom, I would never, could never, hurt you. I couldn’t bear to see you upset or hurting. I would also like to see where this can go. But I may not have told you the complete truth.” He took a deep breath “I love you, Dom.”

There was a short pause in conversation.

“I love you too, Lofty, I know I feared going into any new relationships with people I barely know, but I know that I want to be with you. You are honestly the kindest and most ridiculous person I have ever met in my entire life”

That night, both men left the hospital together hand in hand.


	2. first date

When they went their separate ways that evening, they started texting to organise their first date. Lofty was determined to make it a surprise for Dom.

‘I’m going to organise it, please let me treat you. Meet me at the hospital at 7pm. L x’

‘Okay, I can’t wait. D x’

Both went to sleep that night thinking of the other.  
………………………………………………………………  
“Morning Dom!” Essie said to Dom, who still looked half asleep.

“Morning Essie.”

“Come on then, spill” They both sat down on the bench in the locker room.

“Lofty is taking me out tonight. And I must say that I’m quite excited. Isaac rarely took me out. I really think that me and Lofty have something special.” A small smile began to appear on his face as he spoke about Lofty.

“I am so happy for you Dom! Honestly, you deserve to find love after everything you’ve been through.” Essie left the room and Dom looked happy for the first time in a long time.  
……………………………………………………………  
After Dom’s shift had finished, he walked out of the hospital to see Lofty, standing with a bunch of lilies, looking extremely nervous. He was wearing jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a black jacket. Dom smiled as soon as he saw him.

“Hello, Dom, I, erm, got you these” Lofty said, handing over the flowers.

“Thank you Lofty, they’re beautiful. Come on then, where are we going?”

“Well, Dominic, that is a surprise” Lofty took Dom’s hand in his own and led him through a group of trees. “You look, amazing, by the way.”

“Thank you, so do you” They both stopped and stared at each other. After a moment, Dom leaned in and placed a kiss on Lofty’s lips. Both men pulled away, smiling.

“Come on, we’re nearly there”

A minute later, they came to a clearing amongst the trees. Dom stood still, amazed at what Lofty had done for him. A tartan picnic lay in the middle of the clearing, with a basket full of food and a bottle of wine along with two glasses.

“Lofty, this…this is amazing. I love it”

“I’m so glad you like it, I just thought we should probably get to know each other because we haven’t really done that yet.” Lofty looked nervous, wondering what Dom would say next.

“I think that is a great idea. I love you so much even though I don’t really know you!”

“I love you too, Dom” Lofty grabbed Dom’s hand and led him over to sit on the blanket.

A little while later, soft music played in the background as they drank wine and ate fish and chips.

“I just love chips!” Dom stated, still with a mouthful of chips.

“Well I’m glad I’ve found something you like. What else do you like? Wait, don’t tell me, fish and wine!”

“Yes, actually.” Both men laughed. “Let’s see, I like cake, well, food in general, jigsaws”

“Jigsaws?” Lofty looked puzzled (pun not intended)

“Yes, jigsaws. I find them relaxing. Erm, musicals, stuff like that. You?”

Lofty began. “Well, I like most of those things too, and singing. We have more in common than we first thought!”  
…………………………………………………………………………….  
It began to get cold as they sat there in the darkness, the only light coming from fairy lights hung on trees.

Lofty broke the comfortable silence. “We should get back, I have an early shift tomorrow.”

Both men stood up and strolled, hand in hand, back towards the hospital. 

“Thank you for tonight, it was really lovely” Dom was happy after spending hours with Lofty.

“It was my pleasure… so I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Lofty seemed sad to be saying goodbye.

“Yeah, bye” Dom pressed a quick kiss to Lofty’s lips and then reluctantly pulled away.

“Bye.” Both men looked back at each other before going their separate ways.

They missed each other’s presence that night.


	3. Chapter 3

Things were going great in Lofty’s relationship with Dom. They had been on several dates together to different restaurants. Lofty’s favourites were when they just spent time together doing anything. He didn’t mind that Dom hadn’t known it was his birthday. Just being with Dom made him the happiest he had ever been in his life.

During his shift, Dom kept smiling at Lofty, as if hinting that something was going to happen that evening. He wasn’t counting on it though, Dom didn’t even know it was his birthday.

At the end of the shift, Lofty walked back to the locker room. He most certainly was not expecting to see Dom there.

“Hello, Lofty.”

“Erm, hi, Dom.” Lofty was confused as he wasn’t expecting to see Dom this evening. He was meant to go home, eat a microwave meal and go to bed. He was not supposed to see him until the next day.

“I know you probably didn’t want a big fuss but, happy birthday.” Dom said, handing Lofty a party hat and a gift bag.

“How did you know? No one knows.” Lofty seemed confused.

“Well, seeing as we are now in a relationship, I thought I should find out when your birthday is. Robyn told me, and because it just so happens to be today, I got you some presents.”

Lofty put on the party hat and opened the gift bag to find a ‘The Musical Album’, an expensive looking watch and a posh shirt.

“Wow, Dom, thank you so much.” Lofty pulled Dom into a kiss. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“Well, Lofty, you had better put the shirt on because we are going out tonight. I’ll meet you outside.” 

After a quick kiss, Dom left Lofty in the locker room feeling overwhelmed at the fact that someone did that for him. He began to change into the shirt, excited for what was going to happen.

A little while later, Lofty emerged from the hospital entrance to find Dom carrying a bunch of flowers, just like Lofty did on the first date.

“Thank you, Dom, they’re beautiful.”

“Come on Lofty, let’s go to the pub.” Dom took Lofty’s hand in his own and they both walked over to Albie’s.  
……………………………………………………………………  
When the party was over and most people had gone home, Dom and Lofty stood outside waving people off. The prospect of going their separate ways made each of them sad and, because of this, Lofty had a suggestion.

“Dom, feel free to say no, but would you like to stay over at mine tonight?” Lofty was nervous to find out what Dom’s response would be.

“Yes. I would really like that.” 

They began to walk in the direction of Lofty’s flat, hand in hand, excited to spend even more time together.  
………………………………………………………………….  
Once they reached Lofty’s flat, they were in deep conversation about what to eat.

“But surely cake would be a substantial dinner on your birthday!” Dom was determined to eat birthday cake for dinner.

“Okay fine, but don’t complain in the morning when you feel sick!”

Lofty opened some wine while Dom sat on the sofa tucking into his cake. Both men cuddled into each other in comfortable silence when Lofty had a thought.

“Let’s put on some musicals!” he said, with a huge grin spread across his face. With that, he got the CD out of the gift bag and turned on the CD player. The first song was Any Dream Will Do, Lofty’s favourite. Dom was smiling as the other man sang at the top of his lungs while he simply did the ‘aahhhs’ which they figured was the best way to sing the song together without them both going deaf.

A while later, when they were both full of cake and wine, Lofty broke the comfortable silence.

“Dom, thank you for today, it was the best birthday I have had in a long time.” He pressed a kiss to Dom’s lips.

“You are very welcome, now I love you and everything but please be quiet so I can go to sleep.”

“Okay, see you in the morning, I love you too.” 

They both cuddled up on the sofa and fell asleep wrapped in the other’s arms.


	4. Chapter 4

Dom woke up more nervous than he had ever been in his life. His father, Barry, had never been supportive of him even when he was growing up. His mother, however, was very loving and understanding. He wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, or for today to go well, but he was looking forward to having Lofty by his side throughout it all.

Lofty was also extremely nervous. His parents knew he was bisexual before he did but he had never introduced one of his boyfriends to them before. Anyone who had met his parents always broke up with him within a week of the introduction. He could not lose Dom, whatever happened today.

“Good morning.” Lofty said sleepily to a very much awake Dom.

“Morning.” Dom replied, glumly. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Lofty was concerned about why Dom wasn’t his usual self.

“I’m just really nervous about you meeting my dad. He’s never been very supportive of my sexuality.”

“Look, Dom, whatever your dad thinks of me, it won’t change how much I love you.” Lofty gave Dom a quick kiss and they both began to get ready. It was going to be a tough day so a lot of coffee was needed.

……………………………………………………………………….

A couple of hours later, they were both in the car on the way to meet Lofty’s parents for coffee. Lofty couldn’t sit still and he kept changing the music, needing something to do.

“Can you stop changing the music already!” Dom laughed at how nervous he was.

“Sorry, I just don’t want it to go badly. My parents have never met one of my boyfriends before but I’m sure they’ll love you, just like I do.” They both smiled at each other as they pulled up outside the coffee shop.

When they walked in, Lofty’s parents were already sitting down. 

“Hi mum, dad.” Lofty gave both of his parents hugs while Dom stood behind him.

“And you must be Dom, it’s lovely to meet you. I’m Susan, but call me Sue.” Lofty’s mum had a huge smile spread across her face which put Dom at ease.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Sue.” Dom shook her hand.

“I’m George.” Lofty’s dad said, very sternly, and he gave Dom a very firm handshake. 

“Hello.” Dom felt more nervous about meeting his dad. 

They all then sat down and ordered hot drinks.

……………………………………………………………………….

After they had finished their drinks, they all said their goodbyes and Dom and Lofty made their way back to the car.

“Well that went well.” Lofty said, relieved.

“Yes, it did, I mean who wouldn’t love this face?” Both men laughed.

Dom then looked extremely nervous about what was going to happen with his dad.

“Dom, I’m sure it will be fine.” Lofty squeezed his hand to provide some sort of reassurance.

“And we can always leave if it’s that bad.” Lofty said, putting Dom at ease.

…………………………………………………………………..

As they pulled up outside the house, Dom took a deep breath and Lofty took his hand.

“Come on then.” Lofty seemed nervous but not as nervous as Dom.

When they both got out of the car, they instantly took each other’s hands, not wanting to lose reassurance from the other.  
Dom’s mum, Carol, greeted them at the door with a huge smile on her face.

“Hello, I’m Carol, it’s lovely to meet you Lofty.” She genuinely seemed happy to see them.

“It’s a pleasure Carol.” Lofty began to relax, until he met Dom’s dad.

“Hmm.” Barry was not happy about meeting Lofty at all, which made Lofty more nervous.

………………………………………………………………….

At the dining table, Lofty and Dom had their hands clasped together on the table. Barry kept looking at them in disgust, otherwise avoiding eye contact. By doing this, he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the couple.

“I won’t stand for this!” He interrupted Carol’s conversation with them. They all turned to look at his.

“I’ve already made it clear that I don’t want anything to do with you or anybody you decide to see. Why couldn’t you just be normal? Why couldn’t you just bring home a nice, respectable girl?” He began to sound angry.

“I want you both to leave now.” He was very insistent.

“No, Barry! I want to get to know the person who has made our son so happy and if you don’t show them both some respect then I think you should leave.” Dom looked surprised, but proud of how his mum was finally standing up to his dad.

With that, Barry left the house and Carol continued to get to know Lofty.

………………………………………………………………...

“Lofty, it was a pleasure to meet you. I can see how happy you make each other and I really am happy for you both.” 

“Thank you, mum.” Dom gave his mother a kiss.

“It was lovely to meet you too Carol.” Lofty gave her a hug and they both left.


	5. Chapter 5

Dom woke up with a feeling of dread; today he was going to give evidence against Isaac in court. His main worry was that the jury wouldn’t believe him. What would happen if Isaac didn’t go to prison?

Interrupting his thoughts, Lofty came into the bedroom with a tray. On the tray was some toast and coffee. 

“Morning, Dom.” 

“Morning.” Dom replied. His nerves could be heard clearly in his voice.

“I know you’re nervous, but please try to eat something or I’ll just be worrying about you all day. Not that I won’t be doing that anyway. Please just know that I will be by your side to support you no matter what happens today.” Lofty took Dom’s hand and placed a firm kiss on his knuckle.

“I know you will be, and thank you so much for that.” Dom replied, smiling.

Lofty and Dom got ready to go as slowly as possible, not wanting to be at the court longer than they needed to.

…………………………………………………………………………..

When they arrived, they walked hand in hand up the ghastly amounts of stairs. Dom was acknowledged by a small, blonde woman who gestured for them both to sit down. She began to explain how it was going to work and Dom occasionally nodded, trying to show that he was still listening, even though his mind was elsewhere. 

Suddenly, he noticed that both Lofty and the woman were looking at him, as if expecting him to answer a question.

“Sorry, what?” Dom asked.

“I know this is hard, but we are all going to help you get through it. Now, I am going to show you and your partner to a separate room so you can be called when we need you to give evidence. Okay?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Dom and Lofty were led to a room containing a table with two chairs at either side. Once they had both sat down, Lofty was quiet and Dom wondered why.

“Lofty, is everything okay?” Dom asked.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“But I’m asking you, and I require an answer. Because if something is on your mind, then I’m certainly not going to remain calm before I go in there so please, tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s just, she called me your partner. I never considered that I would be anyone’s partner before.” Lofty though what he was saying was ridiculous.

“Well, I would most definitely like to think of you as my partner. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you and I can see a future with you as my partner.”

“I love you too, and I will be with you for as long as you want me to be.”

They kissed briefly until they were suddenly interrupted by the woman, who indicated that it was time for Dom to give evidence.

“Dom, you can do this, I will be right there with you, I promise.”

When he walked into the courtroom, Dom immediately looked for Lofty, who was sitting in the back row, and took a deep breath as he approached the stand.

He could see Isaac glaring at him but he was determined not to let it get to him. He needed to do this.

Just them, interrupting his thoughts, someone began to speak.

“Mr Copeland, could you please give details of the injuries caused by Mr Mayfield which are shown in the photographs for the jury?”

Dom looked at Isaac, who just stared at him. His eyes were dark with anger. He felt so stupid that he let Isaac do this to him. He felt so small but he couldn’t let Isaac win.

“Mr Copeland?”

“Sorry…” Dom took a deep breath. “Firstly, on the 28th of March, Isaac kicked me which led to me having broken ribs. This was after I asked that our relationship be monogamous.” As he recounted the traumatic events, tears rolled down his cheeks but he looked at Lofty. This gave him the strength he needed.  
Dom continued.  
“On the 5th of April, I received severe bruising of the left dorsal and my foot was stamped on. I don’t remember why. Lastly, on the 9th of April, Isaac punched me which led to a depressed fracture of the left eye socket. I was listening to an old voicemail from Zosia, my best friend. In the voicemail she, she told me she loved me.”   
He smiled sadly. Zosia had tried to help him but he wouldn’t let her. If she had helped him, things might have been very different.

“Thank you very much, Mr Copeland, your evidence will be considered and I urge the jury to make an informed decision based on what you have heard here today.” 

Dom was led out of the room and Lofty met him outside. Immediately, he found himself enveloped in Lofty’s arms.

“Well done, I am so proud of you.”

“It doesn’t mean that they will find him guilty though.”

“Don’t think like that, anyone would be stupid not to believe you. Now, the verdict will be announced later today so we can stay or we can go and ask the lawyer to ring you.”

“Can we go? I just want to forget about it all.” Lofty nodded with a weak smile.

They both wandered into the park nearby and sat down on a bench. Dom rested his head on Lofty’s shoulder.

“Lofty?”

“Yes?” 

“You know what you were saying earlier, about us being partners?”

“Yes, we can just be each other’s boyfriend if that’s what you would prefer?”

“No, I would really like to be partners. But, will you move in with me? I know we have only been going out for a few months but it feels right. If you don’t want to then it’s fine but…”

“Yes! Of course, I will move in with you.” Lofty placed a firm kiss on Dom’s lips and then they assumed their original position.

A little while later, Dom heard his mobile phone ring. He held it in his hand, just staring at it until he decided he needed to know the verdict so he could finally move on.

“Hello?” Dom said nervously down the phone.

Lofty was extremely worried that Isaac would be found to be not guilty. He just wanted Dom to be happy but that couldn’t happen until Isaac was behind bars. As Dom took the phone away from his ear, he just looked straight ahead.

“He was found guilty.” Dom begins to cry with relief because he can finally move on and be happy in his relationship with Lofty without thinking about what happened with Isaac.

“That’s great news! I am so proud of you.” Lofty just hugged Dom for what felt like forever until Dom pulled away and said, “We should really be going, you have some packing to do.”

Both men walked home with huge smiles on their faces, looking forward to the future, with each other.


	6. Chapter 6

“No, Lofty, you can’t bring all of your mugs!”

“Why not? I love my mugs! And I drink an awful lot of coffee so it means I won’t have to wash up as much.”

“Well, I must admit that is a fair point… but at least get rid of a few of the ugly looking ones and I will do the same so we don’t fill all of our cupboards with mugs!”

Dom was helping Lofty pack up his flat so he could move in with him but it was proving to be more of a challenge than either of them anticipated.

“You don’t need to bring the microwave, kettle, or coffee machine because I already have those things! Why don’t we sell them, go shopping, and pick out some new pretty things for our flat?” Dom was trying his best to reason with Lofty but it didn’t seem to be working.

“It feels weird calling it our flat. This all seems so surreal. But yes, I suppose that is a good idea. I would love to pick out some pretty things for our flat together.” Finally, they were getting somewhere!

………………………………………………………………………….

While they were driving to Dom’s flat, they both sat in the car singing and rapping to Hamilton. Lofty was clearly the better singer but Dom most definitely gave it his all.

“Lofty, I swear I could listen to your singing all day!”

“Well you can, because, now we live together, you will hear me singing all the time.” 

“I look forward to it.” Dom was extremely happy that his boyfriend was an amazing singer, and he could have him all to himself.

They pulled up outside the block of flats and they turned to look at each other.

“Dom, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be moving in with you. This is just the start of, I hope, an amazing future together.” Lofty gave Dom a quick kiss.

“Right, come on then, let’s unpack all of your things and then we will order pizza, put on a Rom Com, and snuggle up on the sofa. How does that sound?”

“That, Dominic, is the best idea you’ve had all day, I can’t wait!” Lofty couldn’t stop smiling at the prospect of snuggling up on the sofa every night with Dom.

……………………………………………………………...........

In the flat, Lofty and Dom soon began arguing about what mugs Dom should get rid of.

“But I love my Disney mug, and my purple one, and don’t even think about getting rid of my Gryffindor one. Arthur and Zosia got me that!”

Then the issue was who got which side of the bed.

“Dom, you don’t need to protest about which side is yours. This is your bed so I will sleep on the side that you don’t normally sleep on.”

“But, Lofty, that’s the problem. I didn’t sleep on a specific side. I put the pillow in the middle and spread out my limbs in a starfish-like formation.” Lofty began laughing at this revelation. 

“And, erm, what on earth are you laughing at? Have you never done that before?”

“No, I can’t say I have!”

It was soon decided who would have which side and they arranged their belongings accordingly.

…………………………………………………………………………

When they had finally finished unpacking, they sat on the sofa snuggled up under a big blanket.

“Lofty, erm, I, well I sort of, got you a gift, to say welcome home.” Dom handed Lofty a brown box.

“Dom, you didn’t have to do this.” Lofty began to open the box. 

Inside the box was a mug, on it was a message.

‘You are the donkey to my Shrek, except I love you. Welcome home, all my love, Dom’. At the end of the message was a small love heart.

“Dom, thank you, it’s perfect. I love you.”

“I love you too, and I suppose we can make room for one more mug!”

Lofty pulled Dom in for a kiss when they were interrupted by the doorbell.

“That must be the pizza, I’ll get it.” Lofty got the pizza and they snuggled up on the sofa, hoping that every night will be like this.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I couldn't resist putting a lil bit of Berena in there!

A new patient had been admitted to the ward. Since he arrived, he constantly flirted with Dom and it made him extremely uncomfortable. 

Dom decided that he should tell Lofty, in case he thought anything was going on between them, so he found him in the staff room on his lunch break.

“Lofty, about Karl Turner…” Dom began as he sat down beside Lofty on a sofa.

“What about him?” Lofty interrupted.

“I just thought you should know that he keeps flirting with me. I just don’t want you to think there is anything going on because I don’t even like the guy and…” 

“Dom, I get it, we get flirty patients in here sometimes, and who wouldn’t want to flirt with you? You’re gorgeous and I am the luckiest man alive.” Lofty had to interrupt so Dom could take a breath before he nearly passed out.

Dom laughed. “So am I.” Dom kissed Lofty quickly before going back out onto the ward.

…………………………………………………………………………….

A little while later, Karl went missing so everyone was rushing around trying to find him. Dom went into a store cupboard. It was extremely dark and, suddenly, the door closed and locked behind him. 

Standing between Dom and the door was Karl. He had a knife in his hand as he began backing further into the room.

“Look, Karl, whatever this is about, I’m sure we can fix this. So please, just put the knife down, and we can talk about this.” Dom was desperate to get out of this situation.

“No, we can’t talk about it! I’ve seen you with your little boyfriend. I can tell that you don’t love him, I can give you a good time. He looks so pathetic and he’s not good enough for you.” Karl was holding the knife to Dom’s throat and had him pinned against the wall.

“I love him more than anything in the world. What makes you think I would want to be with you? You are just a pathetic little man who has nothing better to do than going around threatening people who are happier than you will ever be!” Dom was determined not to let Karl get to him. If he was about to die, he wanted to have died with people knowing that he loved Lofty.

Back on the ward, a knife was said to be missing from the staff room and everyone concluded that Karl had taken it. Staff from other wards had been roped into the search.

“Come on, I know you don’t want to be with him. If you come with me, nothing bad will happen to either of you. Stop playing hard to get, you are making this more difficult than it must be. I will kill you and your pathetic excuse for a boyfriend.” Karl began inching the knife closer to Dom’s neck.

“Firstly, he is my partner, not my boyfriend. Secondly, I want to be with him more than anything. Threatening me won’t stop that.”  
“You’ll regret you ever said that!” 

……………………………………………………………………….

Sacha had brought Lofty into the office to tell him that Dom was missing along with Kyle.

“Sacha, we should be out there looking for them!”

“Lofty, I know, but we have to be precautious. We don’t know what the situation is.”

“And what if Dom gets hurt? I can’t let that happen! I love him too much.” Lofty was getting angry that nothing was being done to save Dom.

……………………………………………………………………….

Back in the store cupboard, Karl was becoming increasingly angry.

“Don’t you dare say anything else or I will end you! If anyone comes to find you, I will kill them too.”

Then, a voice came from the other side of the door. Someone was trying to get in.

“Dom, are you in there?” It was Bernie.

Bernie could hear noises coming from inside. She knew that Dom was in there but she couldn’t open the door. The only option she had was to break it down if there was any chance of her saving Dom.

“Bernie, may I ask what you are doing?” Serena appeared in the corridor.

“Dom’s in there and I need to save him. Karl has a knife! Please go back to AAU, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“But Bernie.” Serena knew she couldn’t win the argument. “Stay safe and I love you.”

“I love you too, please try not to worry.” Bernie tried to reassure her.

Serena reluctantly walked back down the corridor towards AAU.

After a few minutes of waiting silently outside the door, Bernie, without warning, broke the door down. Kyle spun around, catching Dom’s wrist with the knife.

“Woah, okay, put the knife down.” Karl was pointing the knife at Bernie now.

“Karl, please, no one else needs to get hurt. You’ve already hurt Dr Copeland and he needs urgent medical attention.”

Dom had found a bandage in one of the boxes and was wrapping it around his wrist to stop the flow of blood.

“Bernie, don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” Dom reassured Bernie.

“Karl, why are you doing this? Surely something must have happened to make you behave like this.”

“Do you really want to know why? My boyfriend broke up with me. He was the kindest, most amazing man on earth. He broke up with me because I was so jealous of him when people flirted with him. No one ever flirts with me. I just wanted to feel loved but that can never happen now.” Karl was just on the floor, crying. Bernie couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“No one will ever love you if you act like this. The love of my life is waiting to see if I’m okay and I’m sure you don’t want to make anyone unhappy. Dr Copeland’s partner is worried sick. If you stop this now, we can get you some help so you stop making people miserable. Is that okay?”

Karl nodded and he put down the knife. The police rushed in and handcuffed him.

“Dom, we had better get you looked at.”

“Bernie, thank you, I think you just saved my life.” Dom hugged Bernie, wincing at the pain in his wrist.

“You are very welcome, now come on, lets stitch that wrist.”

Bernie took Dom to AAU where Serena was waiting.

“Bernie! I’m so glad you’re okay, I love you!” Serena leaped into Bernie’s arms.

“I love you too. But right now, I have to treat Dominic here.” Bernie pulled back and glanced at Dom’s wrist.

“Please, don’t waste your time on me, I just want to go and see Lofty.” Dom was determined to see him as soon as possible.

“No, I can’t let you go and see Lofty in that state.”

Dom gave in and Bernie stitched his wrist, covering it with another bandage.

“Bernie, thank you so much for everything, I owe you my life.”

“Dom!” From across the ward, Lofty shouted Dom’s name and ran up to him. “I can’t believe I nearly lost you. I love you so much!” Lofty kissed Dom’s forehead and wrapped him in a hug.

“I love you so much too. It’s Bernie you should thank, she practically saved my life.”

Lofty turned and hugged Bernie forcefully. “Thank you so much. I owe you everything in the world.” 

“Nonsense, it was the least I could do. No one should be faced with the prospect of losing the person they love.” With that, Bernie looked at Serena and decided that she would keep her safe forever.

Lofty turned back to Dom. “Dom, I should have been there to keep you safe, I am so sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry for anything, it wasn’t your fault, can we please just go home?”

“Yes, come on then.”

“Lofty, you know that I love you, right?” Dom looked up at Lofty from resting on his shoulder.

“You might have mentioned it a couple of times, yes.”

Dom wouldn’t let go of Lofty all the way to the car and he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me forever to write, sorry if it seems a bit rushed! I hope you all like and, as always, any comments are welcome.  
> Also, I need suggestions for what could happen next so feel free to make any suggestions. X

Christmas came around faster than either of them expected. Dom took the liberty of filling the flat with as many Christmas decorations as he could get his hands on, much to Lofty’s dismay, but neither could deny that it looked very festive. 

All they had to buy now was the tree and then the decorating would be complete.

“Of course, we need a real tree, are you mad!?” Dom argued with Lofty at breakfast with Christmas songs playing in the background.

“What’s wrong with a fake tree? We can reuse them and they are easier to put up! If we get my tree then you can choose the decorations.” Lofty tried to compromise.

“That is rather tempting… Fine, but we are not buying a rubbish little one, we need one that almost reaches the ceiling.” 

“We’ll have to see about that. Come on, let’s go and get ready.” Lofty kissed Dom and then went into their bedroom to get dressed. Dom soon followed suit.

Once they were both wrapped in hats and scarves, they took the short walk to the local shopping centre in search of the perfect tree.

“How about this one?” Lofty said as he gestured to a pink tree.

“There is no way we are having a pink tree, Lofty, we are having a traditional green one, therefore all of the decorations will match!” Dom said, holding up some maroon and white baubles. 

Continuing the search, they walked hand in hand while Dom pushed the trolley. Occasionally, they stopped so he could grab something from a shelf with an excited grin on his face. Sometimes, however, Lofty had to stop him from buying something, such as a life size inflatable reindeer as it simply would not fit in their flat. 

“We could put it in our bedroom!” Dom said enthusiastically, trying to win the argument.

“Absolutely not, I don’t want to wake up everything morning to a reindeer staring at me!” They both laughed at this.

After they had sorted out the tree, the next question was what presents to buy people. The list of people to buy for was endless so they had to get a head start. They bought a coffee machine for Zosia and Ollie, large Mrs and Mrs mugs for Bernie and Serena as they had recently got married, the usual socks and ties for their dads, cookbooks and chocolate for their mothers, and a lot of wine for everyone else. Then they had to go their separate ways.

“I will meet you at the coffee shop in around an hour, I need to buy things for the ED lot as well so I might be a while. Oh, and I need to find you a present! I almost forgot.” Lofty said jokingly which earned him a whack on the arm from Dom.

“You had better not forget about me or there will be trouble.” They both smiled as they kissed each other goodbye before heading in opposite directions.

………………………………………

Lofty immediately walked in the direction of a bag shop to find Dom’s first present while Dom went towards a gift shop in the hopes that they had what he was looking for. The other gifts for Lofty couldn’t be found in a shop so he had to go online to make sure they would be delivered in time.

A while later, Dom wandered into the coffee shop and saw Lofty sat at a table in the window with a coffee waiting for him.

“Hi Lofty! Did you find everything?” He sat down and gratefully wrapped his hands around the warm coffee.

“Almost, I just need to go online to find the last thing and hope that it gets here in time for Christmas. I found the cutest Christmas outfit for Robyn’s baby so I will show you when we get home. We need to wrap everything so I took the liberty of buying labels and a lot of sellotape!”

“I can’t wait to see it! So, I bought the DVD of The Grinch so we can watch it while wrapping the presents.” Dom replied enthusiastically, pulling the said item from the bag.

“Shall we go home, I got the coffees to go?” Lofty said, holding out his hand which Dom immediately took into his own.

“Yes, I need a hot water bottle as I think I may have frostbite!” Dom said dramatically which caused Lofty to roll his eyes. 

……………………………………………………………….

Once they had finished wrapping the presents and everything had been ordered online without the other knowing, both men cuddled up to each other with hot chocolates and plenty of marshmallows while now watching ‘Love Actually’.

“You know, I think this is going to be the best Christmas ever… because I am spending it with you, Lofty. I love you.” Dom reached up and kissed Lofty quickly.

“I love you too, Dom, and I can’t wait to spend this Christmas with you.” They both fell asleep curled into each other that night.

In the middle of the night, Dom woke up and found that he was all alone on the sofa so he immediately stood up, walked over to their bedroom, and snuck in beside Lofty, not wanting to be separated from him.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.” Lofty said sleepily.

“It’s okay, go back to sleep now, I love you.” Dom replied with a smile on his face.

“I love you too.” Lofty sounded even quieter as he already began to fall back to sleep curled into Dom once again.

…………………………………………………………...

A week later, Christmas day had finally arrived and Dom woke up at 6am. Not wanting to wake Lofty, he padded into the kitchen and began making cinnamon muffins for breakfast. 

When they were in the oven, Lofty emerged in his dressing gown and reindeer antlers which Dom had kindly given to him.

“It smells amazing in here, are you making breakfast?” Lofty said, walking over to Dom and hugging him from behind.

“Yes, soon we shall be eating cinnamon muffins while listening to Christmas songs and then we shall open our presents from each other. I can’t wait for you to open your presents!” Dom said with a huge grin on his face.

The timer on the oven interrupted their thoughts so Dom put on the oven gloves and presented a batch of six cinnamon muffins cooked to perfection.

“Wow, they look delicious, thank you for making Christmas morning to perfect, Dom!” Lofty kissed him.

“No, you are the reason Christmas morning is perfect.” With that, they both began tucking in to the muffins.

Once they were both full, they retired to the sofa.

“Right, Lofty, you open your first!” Dom put three rather small gifts onto his knee.

“Right, if you insist.” Lofty replied, already starting to open the first of the three. Lofty laughed at the Hamilton tickets he held in his hands.

“Why are you laughing?” Dom asked. 

“Nothing, I’m just surprised. You are definitely coming with me!” Lofty smiled. “Thank you, Dom, it’s perfect.” Lofty said, squeezing Dom’s hand.

As he opened the smallest gift, a huge smile appeared on his face when he saw what it was; a multicoloured nurse’s watch which represented his favourite musical, Joseph.

“This is amazing! I love it so much and I will wear this tomorrow, thank you so much!” Lofty hugged Dom gratefully. 

Now onto the third one, Lofty began tearing up at the silver, engraved photo frame which contained a photo of the two of them kissing while they were ice skating in London a few weeks ago, both wrapped in hats and scarves. Engraved frame said, ‘I love you, always and forever’.

“Thank you, this is my favourite, it is perfect!” He stood up and placed the frame in the middle of the fireplace. When he sat back down, Lofty hugged and kissed Dom before curling into his side.

“Sorry, I’ve never received a gift like that before. I will treasure it forever. I love you.” Wiping away his tears, he got up and retrieved Dom’s presents from underneath the tree.

Eagerly, Dom ripped open the first gift which was revealed to be a brand new brown rucksack with buckles. It looked extremely expensive but there was no price on it so he couldn’t tell.

“Lofty, this looks so expensive! How did you afford this?” Dom asked.

“I may have saved up for a couple of months.” Lofty replied quietly.

“Thank you so much, you really shouldn’t have!”

“I wanted to, because I know your old one was falling apart and you never had time to buy a new one, so I got you it.” Lofty smiled and Dom wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Open the next one, you are really going to like it!” Lofty gestured to the box shaped present.

Inside was a jigsaw of the New York skyline. Dom was slightly confused.

“Open the box.” Lofty said simply so Dom opened the box and was instantly shocked.

“You bought tickets to New York?” Dom was flabbergasted.

“Not only that, but I, erm, I also got tickets to go and see the Broadway production of Hamilton.” Lofty and Dom both started laughing hysterically.

“Well, I guess we are going to see it twice. You can never see a musical too many times!” Lofty was in hysterics at the coincidence.

“And I have always wanted to go to New York, thank you, this is the best present ever!” Dom replied excitedly.

“Now, open the last, and best present please.” Lofty eagerly awaited Dom’s reaction to the final gift.

“How can anything top that?” Dom said as he began to open it.

This time, it was Dom who began to cry as the item was an engraved stethoscope with the words, ‘Never stop being fabulous.’

“Dom, just know that you are the most amazing doctor I know so you must stop being fabulous, okay?” Lofty put his arm around Dom and pulled him closer.

“Thank you, so much, Lofty. This is the greatest gift anyone has ever given to me. I love you so much!” Dom kissed him gratefully.

The rest of the day was spent with family and friends. Their first Christmas together was the most perfect either of them could ever wish for.


End file.
